Richard I of England - From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Original article with many links.

During April Richard stopped on the Byzantine island of Rhodes to avoid the stormy weather. He left in May but a new storm drove Richard's fleet to Cyprus. Read in this site: Richard I in Cyprus. Richard and most of his army left Cyprus for the Holy Land early in June. In his absence Cyprus would be governed by Richard Kamvill.

Richard arrived at Acre in June 1191, in time to relieve the siege of the city by Saladin. Deserted by Philip and having fallen out with Duke Leopold V of Austria, he suddenly found himself without allies.

Richard's tactics ensured success at the siege of Acre and on the subsequent march south, Saladin's men being unable to harass the Crusader army into an impulsive action which might not have gone their way. However, the desertion of the French king had been a major blow, from which they could not hope to recover. Realisingthat he had no hope of holding Jerusalem even if he took it, Richard sadly ordered a retreat. Despite being only a few miles from the city, he refused, thereafter, to set eyes on it, since God had ordained that he should not be the one to conquer it. He had finally realised that his return home could be postponed no longer, since both Philip and John were taking advantage of his absence to make themselves more powerful.

Having planned to leave Conrad of Montferrat as "King" of Jerusalem and Cyprus in the hands of his own protégé, Guy of Lusignan, Richard was dealt another blow when Conrad was assassinated before he could be crowned. His replacement was Richard's own nephew, Henry I of Champagne.

Ruins of the Castle of Dürnstein on the Danube in Austria, where Richard the Lionheart was imprisoned.

On his return to Europe in the autumn of 1192, Richard was captured by Duke Leopold - whom he had publicly insulted in the course of the crusade - and was handed over as a prisoner to the Emperor Henry VI. Although the circumstances of his captivity were not severe, he was frustrated by his inability to travel freely. The imprisonment gave rise to the legend of Blondel. On payment of a ransom of 150,000 marks, which left England destitute for years, he was released and returned to England in 1194. Once again repenting of his sins, he underwent a second coronation. Nevertheless, he spent the remainder of his reign attempting to regain the territory he had lost in France. After his departure in May 1194, he never returned to England.

There is no doubt that Richard had many admirable qualities, as well as many bad ones. He was a military mastermind, and politically astute in many ways - yet incredibly foolish in others, and unwilling to give way to public opinion. He was capable of great humility as well as great arrogance. He loved his family, but behaved ruthlessly to his enemies. He was revered by his most worthy rival, Saladin, and respected by the Emperor Henry, but hated by many who had been his friends, especially King Philip. He was often careless of his own safety: the wound which killed him need not have been inflicted at all if he had been properly armoured. Almost the same thing had happened, ten years earlier when, while feuding with his father, he had encountered William Marshal while unarmed and had to beg for his life. Richard's existence had been one whole series of contradictions. Although he had neglected his wife and had to be commanded by priests to be faithful to her, she was distraught at the news of his death.

During his absence, his brother John had come close to seizing the throne; Richard forgave him, and even named him as his heir in place of Arthur, who was growing into an unpleasant youth. Richard died on April 6 1199 from the after-effects of an arrow wound received during the siege of Chalus in France and was buried next to his parents at Fontevraud Abbey near Chinon and Saumur, France. It is said that he summoned the bowman who had delivered the fatal wound to his bedside, and was so impressed with the man's refusal to be cowed that he pardoned him.

Richard was succeeded by his brother John as king of England. However, his French territories initially rejected John as a successor, preferring his nephew Arthur of Brittany, the son of their late brother Geoffrey, whose claim was technically better than John's.

The tales of Robin Hood are traditionally set during the reign of Richard I. However, the only certainty about Robin Hood is that he lived some time during the 12th and/or 13th centuries. It was not until much later that a connection came to be made between the two men. The typical usage of the link is that the major political goal of Robin's war is to restore Richard to the throne after Prince John ursurped it.

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